KAURI GUM AND SETTLEMENT IN THE NORTH.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVI, Issue 11058, 9 May 1899, Page 3

KAURI GUM AND SETTLEMENT IN THE NORTH.

10 THE EDITOR. I Sir,—" Drunken, lazy gumdiggers." These I were the words used by an Aucklancier in ! answer to mv_»ppeal for his signature to a • petition asking better protection from incur- , sions of foreigners come for the purpose of | exploiting the remnant of our once rich en- : dowment in the wonderful deposit of'kauri ] gum. | The terms drunken and lazy are quite in- I compatible applied to the pursuit of gum- | digging. A lazy digger would inevitably go i ragged and hungry, and would perforce have | to abstain from alcoholic indulgence. Even ! though a certain proportion do give way to i drink; in mitigation of the indictment most I readors will be considerate enough to admit ' some provocation in the everlasting "dentition grind," as poor old Mantalini would . have oalled it, burrowing in mud and water, tearing out logs thick as his body in pursuit of the valuable commodity; working early and late, and all for a pittance which in these latter days only just suffices to keep body and soul together. Mark Tapiey would havo been happy, but even that philosopher would bo tempted to rebel against a horde of aliens settling down to oust him from the chance of earning a crust. The writer remembers a time when big wages were made, but those days have, unfortunately, gone for ever. Some will think , my view of the subject somewhat selfish, i but I venture to predict that this feeling will in a few years be more general, after it has : become too late to remedy the evil. We road continually of the sad destitution to bo i seen in our Southern cities, notably Christchurch, which has to rely solely on agriculture. There is some poverty in Auckland, but little that might be called destitution, and most readers of the Herald know right well the reason, hut I beliove that when the products of the noble kauri arp quite exhausted the distress here will be something moro acuto than anything over known in this colony. Several of the upper orust in Auckland, to whom the writer applied for signatures to the petition, gave mo instead the stone of high-minded cestheticism as follows:—"This iB a froo country; wo believe in higher motives, and in the open-door policy." One even told mo the sooner the gum is finished the better, and turned into money. It is certainly being turned into money, but very much loss is being obtained now, on account of the excessive output. Such a condition of things ought to be understood by tho most casual observer. The supply is always kept somewhat ahead of tho demand, and that entirely through the influx of the aliens referred to. They have no sympathy or fellow feeling for our settlers. When we think of it in tho generous spirit understood by "open-door policy," lot tho question be | asked, who arc they that have been bearing tho brunt of colonisation for more than a half j century? Who has made tho path clear for ■ these foreigners, by making roads, bridges, J and railways, and who have dono the fight" ing nccossary to retain this goodly heritage? Surely, then, it is not too much to ask that the Anglo-Saxon shall have fair play. The only hope now seems to lie in setting apart tho whole of the remaining gum lands for the exclusive use of British subjects, native or naturalised. British diggers are not gregarious animals, but usually will be found entirely alone at work, whereas these foreigners go about in gangs, and perhaps it may not bo credited, but it is given me for the truth by a score of diggers who havo returned from the Far North, everyone of thom telling the same tale. These Dalnia- ■ tiara, presuming on tho force of numbers, ' will crowd round a solitary digger, careless I of the unwritten law, but well understood | regulation, to keep a certain distance from I anyone who is known to have struck gum, ■ and without ceremony dig him out. Person- , ally, I am not but little affected by the ques- i tion, yet I am patriotic enough to feel some i responsibility, and would do all in my power to avert disasters which can bo plainly seen I looming up unless somo stringent restric- ! tions aro placed upon our unwelcome visitors. j Before concluding, reference must be made . to the connection existing between the gum i industry and settlement of the waste lands | from Auckland to tho North Cape./My own case may stand as an illustration. Some years since, when misfortune had placed mo in a most distressful condition, tho only hope that could bo seen beforo me was to make for the broad acres of gum land in order to obtain an independent living. I settled in a convenient position and obtained a lease of some 54 acres, with right of purchase. All spare time was occupied in fencing in a few acres, draining it and planting vines and fruit trees. But for the help obtained from the little gum yet remaining in the neighbourhood it would havo been impossible for me to do it, and i tho land would have remained a howling wil- i derness. It has beejj. a sovoro struggle, but' I am at length beginning to see something ! for tho labour. Many hundreds of settlers ; are in tho position I was in oighfc or nino years a"0, and numbers of them will lie com- ' pelled to abandon their holdings because these thous?/)ds of foreigners have completely . denuded their neighbourhood of the only j staff of their support— precious gum. | Even children wero at otic lime able to assist ( by nicking up small pieces on the surface. Settlers oven yet live in hope that next session of Parliament the subject will lie reconsidered, and late in the day though it he, the difficulty may bo overcome. Most diggers are of opinion that there is only one hope remaining, and that is, as before-mentioned, to reserve the whole of the balance of tho gum land for tho exclusive use of British subjects. Unless something really practical is ! done to put an effectual check on this Sla- I vonic invasion, distress will bo widespread and disastrous. i

The fair city of .Auckland may be said to have the kauri and its products for a foundation, which are all the time its very lifeblood, and yet. strange to sav, many Ancklandors refuse to rocoimiso the connection, and others prefer a little extra present stain to a continuance of prosperity. Unless, however, the citizens wake up and realise the danger which is threatening, thoy will soon find out what it means when thousands of unemployed are flockim? into the city in want of ■ their daily bread.— am. etc., Richard Marsh.